Arizona State Sun Devils at Texas A&M Aggies

No. 10 Texas A&M beats Arizona State 48-20 as defense scores twice in fourth

The Aggies led by 4 before Reed threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Mario Craver on the second play of the fourth quarter to make it 31-20.

Tyler White fumbled before a punt later in the fourth and Arizona State (1-1) recovered on the Texas A&M 34. But A&M's T.J. Searcy hit Cutter Boley as he threw on the next play and 261-pound defensive end Marco Jones grabbed the ball and rumbled 55 yards for the score.

“Time slowed down and I was like I’m going to go get it,” Jones said.

A&M (2-0) led 41-20 later in the fourth when Julio Humphrey intercepted Boley and returned it 45 yards for another score.

Texas A&M’s offense struggled to get going and was inconsistent at times, with Reed going 15 of 25 for 163 yards with an interception before the defense turned this game into a blowout.

“At times we played ugly, but we did the winning things right,” coach Mike Elko said. “We don’t want to live like that, but that’s what we did today, and that’s how we got the win.”

Boley was 21 of 34 for 254 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Reed Harris, a Boston College transfer, had a career-high 189 yards receiving with two scores after he had 137 yards receiving and two TDs last week.

“They had a really, really good plan and big credit to our kids for staying composed, hearing the adjustments, listening to the adjustments,” Elko said.

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham didn't take any solace in his team outgaining the Aggies 369-255.

“Stats are for losers,” he said. “Our stats showed that we played well and they’re for losers and that’s a great example of it. But it does show that we can be competitive, it does show that we can hang and it does show that we have a good football team. But we’ve got to clean up the important things.”

Lyrik Rawls made a diving interception on Reed’s first throw of the second half and the Sun Devils added a field goal on the ensuing drive to cut the lead to 17-13.

Reed found Isaiah Horton in the corner of the end zone on a 13-yard reception on A&M’s next possession to push the lead to 24-13.

Harris got in front of safety Dalton Brooks for a reception later in the third and simply outran him to the end zone for a 58-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-20 before Boley's late mistakes doomed the Sun Devils.

Arizona State muffed a punt with about six minutes left in the first quarter and Texas A&M recovered the ball on the 8. Rueben Owens gave the Aggies an early lead on his 2-yard scoring run three plays later.

A 21-yard TD catch by Harris tied it 7-7 near the end of the first.

The Aggies regained the lead when Reed found Horton wide open in the end zone for a 4-yard score with about nine minutes left in the second.

The takeaway Arizona State: The Sun Devils have a dynamic offense and if they can cut down on their mistakes, they could be a contender in the Big 12 Conference.

Texas A&M: The Aggies must limit big plays and Reed will need to be more accurate if they hope to stay undefeated as they begin Southeastern Conference play next week.

Horton's contributions Horton had two touchdown receptions after scoring once in his Texas A&M debut last week following his transfer from Alabama.

Elko has been impressed with the work of the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Horton so far.

“We needed that big receiver,” Elko said. “And you saw where the big receiver can help you in the red zone.”

Remembering 9/11 The normally maroon-clad crowd at Kyle Field instead wore red, white and blue on Saturday to commemorate Friday's 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Fans in the upper deck wore red, the middle sections donned white and those in the lower level wore blue. The field was decorated for the remembrance, with one end zone painted red, the other one blue and the Texas A&M logo at midfield painted to look like the flag.

Up next Arizona State: Opens Big 12 play against Kansas in the Union Jack Classic at Wembley Stadium in London next Saturday.

Texas A&M: Hosts Kentucky next Saturday.

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